


Oh, Brother

by MassiveSpaceWren



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Crack, Family, Humor, M/M, Misunderstandings, Pining, Pre-Slash, Unreliable Narrator, so many misunderstandings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-10
Updated: 2018-09-10
Packaged: 2019-07-10 18:15:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15954827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MassiveSpaceWren/pseuds/MassiveSpaceWren
Summary: Tony watched as Bucky slung an arm around Steve, jostling him playfully. It was another testament to how comfortable Bucky was about getting into Steve's personal space. It was always like this, a nudge here, dragging him along by his arm there, maybe a short hug, but never anything more intimate.~~~Tony might've fallen head over heels for Bucky, but that won't stop him from helping these love struck, oblivious idiots. Ridiculous, how they don't see such an obvious thing.





	Oh, Brother

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TT_Angst_Queen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TT_Angst_Queen/gifts).



Tony watched as Bucky slung an arm around Steve, jostling him playfully. It was another testament to how comfortable Bucky was about getting into Steve's personal space. It was always like this, a nudge here, dragging him along by his arm there, maybe a short hug, but never anything more intimate.

Everyone knew that they meant the world to each other, would give up everything to get the other back. Steve _had_ risked everything to get Bucky back.

And still, they kept their touching casual. No touching legs at movie nights, no soft caress, no hand holding. Not that Tony had been watching.

Well, maybe he had. It was just hard to keep his eyes off Bucky.

Ever since Cap showed up at his doorstep, ex-brainwashed assassin in tow, and asked for help, they had been staying at Stark Tower with him. They fell into a companionable routine pretty quickly, trying to give Bucky everything he needed to recover, be it space, distraction, or a normal environment. If living with a billionaire superhero and the Man with a Plan, draped in a flag, could be called normal. Still, leaving Bucky to it and just being around him like he was any other guy seemed to help more than Tony would have guessed. So, Tony had gotten to know the snarky, playful side of Bucky, all with a dash of curiosity about the future, and Tony hadn't stood a chance. He'd fallen head over heels in love with his new roomie, the 100-year old assassin. Sometimes he wondered how this was his life.

There was just one problem: Bucky was in love with Steve. Their closeness, their history of sacrificing everything to get to the other... It was obvious, really.

It was also infuriatingly obvious that Steve felt the same way, not that Bucky seemed to see that. Tony was annoyed at how oblivious they were. He knew his chances with Bucky were not good, less than zero, more like tending towards minus infinity at exponential rate.

But if he couldn't be with Bucky himself, he could at least try to make Bucky happy.

 

~~~

 

"So," Tony started while leaning over the couch Steve was currently sitting on, "Bucky seems in a good mood lately. You think he's getting better? Healing?"

Steve set down his sketchbook, taking a moment to contemplate his answer.

"I think so, yes. He's... he's not the same as before... And, while I'd love for him to be as lighthearted as he was before the war, I _know_ that's probably never going to happen. He's different now. Hell, _I'm_ different now." Steve looked off into the distance, contemplating. "I think he'll be ok, though. I hope he will be."

Tony swallowed, before sitting down next to Steve and letting a hand fall onto his shoulder. His usual quips seemed to fall short of the situation.

"Thank you, Tony," Steve said, turning towards him and smiling slightly. "I wouldn't have known where to go, if you hadn't taken us in."

"Hey, you'd have been fine," Tony shrugged. "Plenty of other places to go. I'm glad I could help a little."

"It means a lot, to have him back." Steve smiled, returning to sketch absentmindedly. "Never would've thought this is where we'd end up," Steve chuckled.

"Yeah. You and him, together, that's how it is, right?"

Steve made a confirming noise in the back of his throat, his pencil moving over the page.

"Yeah. Him and me, 'til the end of the line."

"So, gay marriage is legal now," Tony started.

Steve raised an eyebrow, a questioning look on his face.

"Yeah... That's great. One of the good things about the future."

"Steve... wouldn't you want to ask him out? Date? Marry, eventually?" Tony's voice was soft. He'd be fine. If Steve made Bucky happy, then so be it.

The sketchbook dropped to the floor, as Steve's head swiveled towards Tony, a look of utter disgust on his face.

" _Date?_ Date _Bucky?_ ," Steve's voice was incredulous. "What the _hell_ , Tony! No! Just no. That's just wrong to think about. Nope! Ugh, have you invented brain bleach yet?" Steve half shouted, half laughed.

Tony stared at him in shock, before making a quick run for the elevator, mumbling excuses. Steve called after him, but Tony didn't hear anymore. He sank down in the relative safety of the elevator.

He'd never have expected that kind of reaction. Lying about not liking Bucky, maybe. Even a soft no, possibly, if Tony had read it wrong. But the utter finality with which Steve had reacted, the grossed out look on his face, left Tony reeling.

After a few minutes of calming down, he decided he couldn't just keep this information to himself, not if it was about Bucky's heart. He needed to talk to Bucky.

 

~~~

 

Tony felt more like an executioner than a friend, sitting next to Bucky, trying to bring up the subject. It was harder than he thought it would be. His conversation with Bucky had started as well as they usually did, with some science talk, some snarking back and forth, and their own little in-jokes. But he had to do this, to make sure Bucky never walked into the thing unprepared, to get rejected by Steve like that.

"So," Tony started, getting serious. He swallowed, trying to hide his nerves. "You know how the future has some shiny new things, like, gay relationships being legal now?" Tony stared ahead, trying to push through it. "I thought this might concern you," he rushed out, glancing at Bucky from the corner of his eye.

Bucky froze.

"With, you know, your crush and all? Or am I wrong about that?" He just needed to know. He needed to know what was happening, needed to find a way to be sure about what Bucky wanted, and then try his hardest to get him that.

Bucky looked like he was about to faint, cheeks slowly heating with embarrassment.

"No... Not wrong," he whispered, almost too quiet to hear.

"Bucky, I don't know how to tell you this but... I just went and talked to him."

Bucky frowned.

"...Him? Who?"

"I talked to Steve. I know how much he means to you."

Bucky nodded along, but was still frowning as if some information was missing.

"So, I asked him, how he feels about it," Tony finally pressed out.

"How he feels about... what?" Bucky's confusion only seemed to grow. "It's none of his-" He sighed. "It's nice but it's not like I _need_ his blessing or something-"

"No, I meant, I asked him how he feels about you."

Bucky's eyes narrowed in confusion.

"...About me? I think I know how he feels about me...? 'Til the end of the line, and all."

Tony sighed. "No, I meant about dating you."

Bucky physically recoiled.

" _What!_ Why would he?? Ugh, never!" Bucky shuddered, face contorting in disgust. "We're brothers!"

Tony buried his face in his hands for a moment. "I _know_ everyone always said you were like brothers, but it was the 40s, it's not like they could have said you were in love-"

"Tony, we're not _like brothers_ , we're _brothers_!" Bucky shouted.

Tony stopped dead in his tracks.

"What do you mean? Steve's an only child."

"No, he's not." Bucky huffed.

"Steven Rogers has no brothers, it's what history says, what his enlistment papers say." Tony mumbled.

Bucky stared at him for what felt like an eternity. Then, he got up and stomped towards the common rooms. Even the soundproof walls couldn't contain his shouting.

"STEVEN GRANT BARNES, WHAT THE _HELL_ DID YOU DO!?"

 

~~~

 

They were _actual_ brothers.

Tony sat on the couch opposite to Steve, still reeling.

Steve's sheepish expression hadn't faded all through his explanation of how he'd had tried to enlist, using different names, different sign up information each time, and the one time he got accepted, he'd used the name "Rogers" on his forms. At first, he'd been too afraid of being kicked out. Then, after a while in the army, he'd never found the right moment to correct it. They'd had more important things to do, after all. No one had called him "Rogers" anyway, after he got the serum. People called him "Cap", friends called him Steve.

Tony sank back into the cushions, hiding his face from view.

And he'd thought-

No, better to purge it from his mind.

Steve finally apologized again, and offered to take over cooking for tonight, sneaking off into the kitchen. Bucky leaned back, next to Tony and sighed.

"Sorry for the confusion. I didn't even know that's what his enlistment forms said." Bucky’s quiet mumble was barely audible.

"It's fine," Tony ground out, feeling mortified. "No harm done."

Their reactions seemed a lot more natural, now.

Tony frowned and glanced at Bucky.

"Hey, didn't you say I wasn't wrong about you having a crush...?" he wondered.

Bucky's face, surprisingly, went beet red.

"No, can't remember that I said that. Must have been a misunderstanding." He hurried out of the room "I better help Steve in the kitchen!!" he called back around the corner.

Tony sighed. Must have been a misunderstanding, yes. That sounded plausible. Who else could Bucky have had a crush on, after all?

**Author's Note:**

> TT40_Angst_Queen asked for actual brothers Steve and Bucky :) I hope you like my cracky take on it ;)


End file.
